


Junglin'

by LimaSquared



Series: Varadora - WoW [1]
Category: WoW - Fandom, World of Warcraft
Genre: Budding Love, F/M, Fluff, Heat Stroke, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-14
Updated: 2018-03-14
Packaged: 2019-03-31 11:37:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,059
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13974309
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LimaSquared/pseuds/LimaSquared
Summary: Varadora and Valdreon meet up to dig some archaeology. Vara doesn't take very good care of herself.





	Junglin'

Varadora sighed as she urged her skeletal raptor down the road, and glanced warily at the shadows between the thick jungle trees around her. She knew Stranglethorn was warm year-round, but it felt like today was a real scorcher. Wiping the sweat off her brow, the blood elf realized she should have bought a canopy for the dig-site, and then thought about her other dilemma.

Today she was going to meet up with her mentor and friend, Valdreon. He was the one her older sister recommended in Ogrimmar when Vara needed Priest battle training, and even though Vara had her doubts, him being a Troll and all, they became friends. Once Vald decided that Vara was proficient enough as a healer and fighter to not need him around all the time, they split up to take care of their own business and Varadora discovered archaeology. For now, she was an assistant only, but she was allowed to go off on her own to dig-sites as long as she reported her findings. However, she wasn’t allowed official assistants for herself, so if she wanted any help she had to either pay someone or bring in others willing to work for free. Valdreon, himself interested in learning more about Troll history, offered to come along with Varadora to Zandalar Troll dig-sites and help out. She welcomed the company and the help but was nervous every time that they met up alone. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust him now, but she had some feelings that she suspected wouldn’t work out if she were to reveal them. Not to mention, when she wasn’t studying artifacts or ancient texts, she still had little Priest projects from Valdreon. Last time they had met up, it only was a brief dinner since both were very busy, he had mentioned a spell called halo and tasked her with trying to use it. He had even offered to meet up with her and show it to her himself.

She sighed once more and, feeling suffocated by her hair hanging down the front, irritably threw her long, off-white braid on her back as she wiped off again. “I feel like I’m going to drown in my own sweat,” she grumbled to her raptor. Undead have it easy, she thought, they don’t feel temperature changes like this but that’s what makes undead mounts so efficient. Urging the bony creature on faster, she saw something familiar up ahead, Valdreon’s floating disk powered off and resting against a tree. Slowing down, Varadora saw the clearing with a small tent and firepit, and the ruins for excavating not too far off. Hopping off her raptor and tying it to the tree the disk was leaning on, she cautiously called out.

“Valdreon? Are you here?”

“Ya!” Came the reply almost instantly, and the tall blue Troll lifted the tent’s flap and poked his head out, his fluffy cobalt blue hair brushing the top. “Jus’ settin’ up my tent. I thought ya were comin’ down later?”

Varadora shook her head as she starting unpacking her bundle of tent and blankets off her raptor’s flank, and her knees buckled a little under the weight. “I rushed down. Too excited about this dig-site to stay in Undercity any longer.”

“Well, ‘m going to go grab sometin’ to eat. Comin’?”

“No, I’m setting up my tent and getting right to those ruins!”

Valdreon arched an eyebrow, but nodded and grabbed his disk, patted the skele-raptor, and started off. “Be back soon!” he called out behind him as Varadora turned around in time to catch him flying up above the trees. He does have a nice outline, she thought, admiring his silhouette against the sun. With a slight flush to her face, she thought about how nice his tallness was, how even when he was hunched over, and he usually was, it still felt like he was towering over her. In a nice way though, like a fortress.

With that last thought warming her face even more than the hot air around her, she swiftly finished setting up her tent, grabbed a loose sheaf of papers, a notebook bound in leather, and her tools and set off for the ruins.

\-----

Valdreon sat on edge of his flying disk as it sped along above the trees of Strangethorn’s Jungle, dangling his feet in the breeze leisurely. He directed his path towards the Grom’gol camp, he wasn’t about to go hunting in this heat, and he wanted to be back rather quickly. Eventually, he started thinking about how he met the scrawny elf in Ogrimmar, who had practically begged him to teach her after one of his friends, a talented rogue and Vara’s sister, pointed her in his direction. Even though he had been reluctant at first, she was a Blood Elf fresh from "peaceful" Silvermoon City after all, Vara had proved herself and he started teaching her how to properly fight and heal in battle. Eventually, they became friends rather than student and teacher and he felt safe letting her run off by herself. Even though he knew that she was older than him by years, even centuries, he still felt like she was much younger than him. Something about her growing up in relative peace while he had more battle experience could have caused that, he supposed. He didn’t know much about her family, other than that she and most of her family didn’t get along, except her sister, and that’s why she used no last name.

Today though, he was slightly worried. Usually the little elf (little compared to Valdreon anyway) was peppy and cheerful, but when he saw her something seemed off. Kind of tired, and he had noticed her wobbling when she took down her tent off her mount. He knew she was stronger than that, but shrugged half-heartedly as the disk lowered into Grom’gol. He stepped down and carried the disk under his arm as he approached the merchant selling food and drink. After a couple of minutes asking for news and some bartering, he was soon off again. In another couple of hours, he landed at their small camp. It was now past noon, and his stomach grumbled.

“Vara!” His voice echoed into the ruins. “Were ya at?”

“Over here!” echoed back, and Valdreon saw her a level down the half-buried stepped temple, on all fours, messing with what looked like a dirt-covered tablet.

“I got food!” he yelled over, lifting his bag.

“I’ll be up in a minute! Let me just finish copying what’s on this! Oh, I’ll just bring it up with me.”

Standing up slowly with great effort, Varadora bent over and started to lift the tablet with a small “oof!” However, the effort from lifting the tablet obviously put her off balance, and the tablet fell from her hands as she stumbled down, dangerously close to the edge of the next level down and her face obviously flushed with effort. Valdreon knew, even without measuring, that the drop between each level was feet taller than himself, maybe even as tall as two of him standing up straight. With the state that Varadora was in, if she tried to move or pick up the tablet again, she could... he couldn’t let his mind wander any further.

“Vara?” he called out, slung his bag over shoulder, threw out his hand and his disk sprang to life and flew into his fingers.

“I’m ok! I’m ok! Just this headache...” she yelled back (Weakly, her voice wobbled, he noticed.) as she wobbled up, propping herself up on one knee.

“Nah, stay still, ‘mon!” He jumped onto the disk and smoothly glided down, hopping off next to his downed friend.

“By the Light, I’m so damn tired...” she swayed and Valdreon caught her before she fell to all fours again. “...like a fortress...” She closed her eyes and nuzzled into his arm.

“Don’t fall asleep Vara! I thought somethin’ was wrong with ya. Have you been drinkin’ and eatin’ properly?”

“Ummm... to be honest, I can’t remember. I’ve been trying to practice halo when I’m not reading up about the Zandalar...” she wiped off her forehead with effort. “It’s so damn hot.”

Valdreon pulled a bottle of spring water out of his bag and offered it. “Drink, it’ll do ya good.” When she had the bottle in her hands, he scooped her up and got back on the disk.

“The tablet!” she protested weakly.

“It’ll still be here later.” he reassured her as the disk lifted up. “Right now ya need water and food.”

Within minutes, they were at the tents, and Valdreon brought out both of their bedrolls to cushion the dirt and handed Varadora another bottle from his backpack. “Keep drinkin’,” he commanded as she sat down on the rolls by the firepit. “You’re dehydrated.”

“Ah, really?” Varadora stammered out before taking another drink. She appeared surprised at first, then guzzled the water down. Valdreon huffed lightly and shook his head.

“What?” Vara demanded. She was obviously becoming more coherent, and her face was red, but not from exertion.

“I can’t believe you’d forget to drink and eat.” He sighed with a shrug. “Well, maybe I can. Ya’ve always been a little out there.” Varadora huffed and took another drink. “How ya feelin’?”

“I still feel a little tired, but less thirsty.”

“Drink up, ‘nd don’t go to sleep yet.” He paused to think. “I’ll want to keep an eye on ya tonight too.” Varadora paused mid-drink to smirk mischievously.

“What, you’re going to peek in my tent? While I sleep?” she said with faked indignation.

Valdreon felt his face start to darken, but quickly pressed the feeling rising in his chest down.

“I don’t mean I’m going to be peekin’... I figured I’d just talk to ya and if you didn’t respond in time...”

Varadora burst out laughing.

“I know, I know, I was just kidding. Ahahah, your face!”

The Troll huffed and hunched over even more, pretending to sulk.

“How about I sleep outside tonight? Then you can check on me as much as you need. It’s hot enough that I don’t want to be in my stuffy tent anyway.”

“Sounds good ta me.” Valdreon agrees with a nod.

From there, they started to eat and the conversation drifted to their adventures together and apart. Eventually it lulled into silence and Varadora drifted off in front of the campfire while Valdreon stayed awake tending to the small fire.

His thoughts turned to his friend and once-student. Why was he so strongly worried before? He knew that part of it was because he had come to enjoy the elf’s company and so cared about her well being, but this time had felt different. When he had saw her fall, he felt desperate to help her. A small, warm feeling spread to his face when he thought about when he picked her up and how small she felt, and then he thought about the precious few other times that he had carried her like that. Then, his thoughts drifted to when she had first told him about her archaeology apprenticeship, and when he volunteered to go with her her face lit up. Even when he offered to work with her one-on-one to show her halo, she seemed even more glad and he knew how hard she could struggle with spells that required focus. Before he had just assumed that it was because she was always so excitable, but it vaguely seemed like something else.

Thinking on it, it seemed like Varadora was always excited to see him. Not in the same way the other members of the Horde were excited to see one of their best healers join them in battle, and not in the same way that she first seemed excited to see him as a teacher, or even when she was excited to see him as a friend. The warm feeling in his face grew hotter as it dawned on him that he was always happy to see her too. Varadora was fairly pretty, and the time when they had been together in the Outlands fighting the Alliance how her ferocity had surprised him but also made her seem to glow.

Valdreon shook his head and started to think of other things, but the soft, warm feeling stayed with him.


End file.
